Is this fusarium wilt on my phal?

[orchidmancer]

I purchased this cute little, fragrant schilleriana hybrid (probably Pinglong Cherry) from the flower market in NYC along with a NOID phal. Both plants had tons of roots, buds and blooms in sphagnum moss, and were fine for about a month. That is until one day I looked at the Pinglong Cherry and it's once very thick, plump leaves are saggy, wilting, and leathery. One of the leaves eventually turned yellow and fell off, and it looks like another is going the same way. Only the newest leaf has remained healthy.

For reference, it is potted in a net pot in LECA beads inside of another clay pot. The NOID from the same source is in lava rock, a traditional plastic pot for orchids inside of a clay pot--it's doing fine and has no wilting.

Any thoughts on what might be wrong?

[Ray]

I suppose that it is possible that it's fusarium, , but that LECA looks totally dry. Is the plant getting enough water?

[orchidmancer]

Ray, the LECA is deceptive, the top tends to look dry but the beads underneath are quite wet. I have the clay pot inside of another plastic pot that holds a resevoir, so the pot wicks up moisture.

I held the pot under running water to soak the beads and then have the resevoir, so it should be okay.

[estación seca]

The roots I see look healthy. The pot is quite small, so the LECA will dry out rapidly. I suspect you haven't been watering enough. If I had a plant potted in a small clay pot, with only LECA, I would expect to water every 1-2 days.

[Ray]

Well, if the roots are good, and it's getting all the water it needs, I guess we have to conclude that you're rights about fusarium...

[Orchid Whisperer]

I think that concluding it is fusarium is a bit premature without more information.

How do you water it, and how often? Lift the net pot out of the clay pot. Can you show us what the other roots look like?

You say that the newest leaf is in good shape while the older ones are not. To me, that sounds like the old leaves are being sacrificed by the plant to hydrate the new leaf.

I am not ruling out fusarium (best to isolate this plant as a precaution), but let's rule some other things out first. 1) assess the condition of the roots down in the pot. Living or dead, plump or dessicated? 2) If there are good roots, try watering by placing the pot in a water- holding container and fill with water up to the base of the plant. Soak for a half hour to an hour each time you water, then drain. Water (soak) again each time the LECA seems nearly dry. Keep the plant shaded. If the plant is rehydrating, you should see improvement in the leaves after a few weeks. Unfortunately, some wrinkles will remain. 3) I see at least one good root, but if there are no others, recovery could be long. If it is only 1 or 2 small roots, you may want to try "sphag and bag" (instructions, I think, on Ray's website). 4) If none of this helps, then I think Fusarium is more likely.

Good luck

[wintergirl]

I have phals in all different types of media, the ones in those beads dry out super fast. Either repot in something else or water more.

[desertanimal]

I have grown phals in S/H (which it sounds like you are doing) for a few years now. One thing I have noticed is that different plants have quite different tolerances for what is presumably temperature. My species put out new roots as soon as it gets warm, and every time I pull them out to pot them deeper so that those new roots are in the LECA, I find a lot of root death. My hybrids don't seem to suffer the same fate. This was true when I was in Boston, but I thought it would be resolved by moving to L.A. I've been here a year so the plants had one L.A. winter. I gave them a space heater since the house I lived in had no heat. Yet, I just pulled plants the other day and my Phal species had half surviving roots, half dead, while my NOIDs are trucking along just fine. I think the species really have to have bottom heat whenever it's the least bit cool or their roots die off in S/H.


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[wintergirl]

It sounds like she has no water reservoir as she is using a net pot inside a clay pot. If you set the entire thing in a saucer of water, that might work.

[NYCorchidman]

If the roots are good, and then plant looks so dry like that, then it is underwatering I would think??

Fusarium wilt will kill off roots. Also, you can't really tell if its fusarium or not by just looking at the plant.

There are host of other pathogens that attack roots and kill or damage plants.